Maple Leaf full-year profit boosted by higher cement prices

Maple Leaf has reported a over a six-fold rise in annual net profit for FY13 driven in part by higher cement prices and lower coal costs.

According to a notice sent by the company to the Karachi Stock Exchange, for the 12 months ended 30 June 2013, the company posted a profit of PKR3.23bn compared to PKR496m in the previous fiscal – a staggering increment of 550 per cent.

Rising cement prices across Pakistan are helping boost growth across the whole sector and offsetting sluggish demand. The average selling price of a 50kgh bag of cement during the year was PKR450/bag, according to one analyst at InvestCap.

Moreover, the company managed to boost its gross profit by PKR2bn to PKR6.05bn thanks to lower international coal prices which resulted in cost savings. Higher profitability was also attributed to lower interest rates which proved favourable for the company’s debt repayments.

Maple Leaf Cement counts among Pakistan’s top five cement producers in terms of capacity, operating a 3.37Mta integrated plant in Daudkhel, Punjab.